Is Pepper Spray that Bad?

So we have all seen the picture of our favorite police officer nonchalantly causing some of the most excruciating discomfort to some immobile students. The media went crazy over this. The police said that the students had surrounded the officers and there was no escape so they pepper sprayed their way out.

Now I have seen the video and it is true, students did surrond the officers with their arms linked. Whether or not this was threatening enough for use of force is another story. The officers did warn the students many times they would be pepper sprayed if they didn’t move. The students didn’t move. Well surprise, surprise when they were pepper sprayed.

Pepper spray is horrible. The police should have grabbed the students and arrested them. Between batons and tasers the crowd never would of even thought of overrunning the officers. In the end the officers were wrong to use a classified chemical weapon against civilians and are being scrutinized by the nation for it. [Via]